'Emmerdale's Chas Dingle is set to have her life rocked when she is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Lucy Pargeter hopes the storyline will encourage people to 'check their breasts' for lumps
The single mum, played by Lucy Pargeter, will be seen frolicking around with village doctor Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) - but the fun soon ends when he discovers a lump in her breast.
Liam did his best to reassure her that it could simply be a cyst or noncancerous.
Chas, who has a young daughter called Eve with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), keeps the news to herself at first but is shell-shocked when she is diagnosed with the fastest-growing triple-negative breast cancer.
The diagnosis is all the more devastating as her mother died from breast cancer.
The ITV soap has teamed up with the charity Breast Cancer Now on the episodes to encourage people to "check their breasts" regularly, and Chas and the team have been working with their nurses to ensure the storyline is as "authentic" as possible.
Producer Kate Brooks said: “When this story was first pitched, we were acutely aware how important it was to explore this...
"With Chas’s family history of breast cancer and Chas being such a strong character, and in many ways the bedrock of the Dingles, we wanted to show the impact on not just her, but her immediate family. With Lucy Pargeter’s innate ability to showcase Chas’s vulnerabilities beneath her hardened exterior, we knew she was absolutely the right character to play this with.
“We approached Breast Cancer Now as we wanted to depict this story in the most authentic way possible. Any light we can shed on this disease and encourage and remind people to routinely check their breasts can hopefully help lead to more positive outcomes.”
Lucy added: “When the producers first discussed this storyline with me I knew I didn’t want us to shy away from any aspect of this diagnosis for Chas. She saw her own mother ultimately die after an incurable breast cancer diagnosis, so for Chas to receive a breast cancer diagnosis herself, makes it all the more poignant...
"Our audience knows her so well, they have seen her relationships, know her faults, her passions, her insecurities, quirks and fears. So for them to see this story play out will be more meaningful given everything that has happened to both her and her mother. I think this is the beauty of our genre ‘Soap’. However, I am more than aware of the huge responsibility with us telling this story...
"I hope we can do it justice. It won’t be all doom and gloom, there will be ups and downs just like with anything. But I hope it looks and feels real. And if just a few people get help for breast changes that do not feel or look right, it could do some good too.”
'Emmerdale' airs weekdays at 7.30 pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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